Joseph Spence

★★★★ Encore SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS RECORDINGS. CD/DL/LP

Unheard recordings by the Bahamian guitar master.

Born in 1910, the late Bahamian folk maverick Joseph Spence performed traditional songs and spirituals in a low grunt that resembled cartoon character Popeye. His guitar inventions were equally eccentric: playing the bass parts on low strings, melody on the high ones, creating a simultaneous dialogue between both while each shifted tempos. This created a challenge for the many guitarists and reverent fans, like Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder and Richard Thompson, who’ve all tried to duplicate him. Spence has often been called “the folk guitarist’s Thelonious Monk”, and like Monk, he sang solfeggio – melodically groaning underneath instrumental sections. These newly-released recordings were mostly taped while he was in New York in 1965 for a concert: some recorded at the show, and some at producer Peter K Siegel’s parents’ apartment. Beyond Spence’s technical magic is the unfettered joy that animates every note.